Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 84 together.

The following table sets out the number of End of Year Statements (P21s) for PAYE taxpayers that have issued, to date, for the years 2012 to 2016:

In the time available I am advised by Revenue that it was not possible to compile the same information for the other years requested by the Deputy or to confirm the value of the underpayments and overpayments involved. This information will be provided directly to the Deputy when it is available.

I am advised by Revenue that current practice is that an End of Year Statement (P21) is issued only on foot of a request from a taxpayer or if a taxpayer completes a Form 12 tax return.  This approach, based on specific request or the filing of a Form 12, ensures that a taxpayer’s record is fully up-to-date before the P21 issues and avoids the possibility of incorrect notification of an undercharge or an overcharge to the taxpayer where Revenue may not be in passion of the full facts relevant to the taxpayer.

I know that Revenue has taken a number of initiatives to assist PAYE taxpayers to comply with their obligations and claim their entitlements ensuring, insofar as possible, that they pay the right amount of tax at the right time.  These initiatives include:

- The automatic granting of certain tax credits each year based on the latest information available so that taxpayers who do not claim their entitlements still receive them.

- The receipt of ongoing and up-to-date information from the Department of Social Protection (DSP) ensuring that any tax due on DSP payments is collected through the PAYE system.

- The provision of modern, user-friendly online services through Revenue’s myaccount facility to allow taxpayers manage their own tax affairs. These include:

- A facility since January 2017 to automatically divide tax credits and rate bands across different employments (in cases where the customer has more than one job or occupational pension or, in joint assessment cases, where both spouses/civil partners have a job or pension) based on information provided by the taxpayer. This ensures that a taxpayer gets the full benefit of tax credits and rate bands and reduces the possibility of an under or overpayment of tax.

- A simple online End of Year Statement (P21) request facility where there are no changes to be made to the taxpayer’s record (in effect a confirmation by the taxpayer that Revenue’s records are fully reflective of their personal circumstances, including income details.

- An online tax return (Form 12) that is pre-populated with information available to Revenue to enable taxpayers to get an end of year review.

- A RevApp launched in October 2016 which assists taxpayers to keep track of and store their receipts, such as health expenses, during the year.

- A short version of the paper Form 12 to assist customers unable to use online services to claim their entitlements and obtain a refund of tax, where appropriate.

- Various campaigns to raise awareness of entitlements including numerous radio interviews, advertising campaigns and outreach visits. Last October, Revenue wrote to 137,000 PAYE taxpayers who made no changes to their tax record in the previous four years to advise them to review their records to ensure they were claiming all their entitlements and to remind them of the four-year time limit for claiming a tax refund. Up to April 2017, almost 11,000 taxpayers have received refunds to a value of around €23million on foot of these letters.

The Deputy will be aware that Revenue is currently undertaking a PAYE Modernisation Project and is examining the option of conducting an automatic end of year review for all PAYE taxpayers based on the receipt of payroll data in realtime directly from the payroll systems of employers and pension providers.  In such a situation it would be possible for PAYE taxpayers to have an opportunity to update their record before the review is finalised by Revenue so as to ensure that the end of year review fully reflects the relevant personal circumstances of each taxpayer.